I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Oh what movie. See what I did there. One of The Four Seasons best songs and a nice play on words with it. But yes, this is a good movie. I don't know why it rated so low on IMDb. So here we go to the review.Synopsis: Jersey Boys is a musical biography of the Four Seasons-the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert (though it does include numbers from the popular Four Seasons songbook), Jersey Boys gets to the heart of the relationships at the center of the group-with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto. In addition to following the quartet's coming of age as performers, the core of the show is how an allegiance to a code of honor learned in the streets of their native New Jersey got them through a multitude of challenges: gambling debts, Mafia threats and family disasters. Jersey Boys is a glimpse at the people behind a sound that has managed to endure for over four decades in the hearts of the public. Starring: John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Michael Lomenda, Erich Bergen Director: Clint EastwoodClint Eastwood proves yet again why he should never stop making movies. He is a brilliant, brilliant film maker. Just look at the history of this man. He has proved time and again that he is the man who should be asked in the top five directors first to direct a movie. This being his first musical was not a bad venture.One great thing that Clint did was cast people who acted in the musical to begin with. That did nothing but help this movie. The guys who were playing the roles of the Four Seasons played them before, so they knew the material. They already had it in their heads how it should go.I found out throughout the years that most people didn't know that the four guys were connected to the mob in more ways than one. At first, I didn't believe it. Then I looked into the matter. And if it wasn't for the mob, a lot of the musicians out of Jersey wouldn't have gotten any farther than they had. I'm glad that they left that part in. It really is an intricate part to the story.The last thing I need to talk about is the soundtrack. I mentioned it earlier, but these guys singing sounded almost like the real singers. The soundtrack is not the best part, but it is very close to it. Just for the fact of the soundtrack is enough to watch this movie.I strongly encourage everyone to watch this movie. Just give it a try, it will surprise you.Rating: 8 out of 10

JERSEY BOYS is another winner from director Clint Eastwood and an adaptation of the popular stage musical about the life and times of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It's a lengthy and often slow-moving biopic that takes a long time to get to the fame and fortune of the group in their heyday, yet there's something engrossing about it all the same. It helps immeasurably that Eastwood is an assured direction who brings a sheen of class and professionalism to all of his films, making this a delight to watch.Most of the cast members are taken straight from the musical, so their singing is quite wonderful. Their renditions of all the popular hits are quite amazing, particularly the power house climax which is incredibly moving and perfectly performed. The ending credits, in which the whole cast provide an encore in the classic musical tradition, could easily have been completely cheesy in the hands of a less experienced director but Eastwood makes it work, and then some.Acting stand-outs are John Lloyd Young as family man Frankie, whose turbulent private life is in contrast to his serene presence on the stage, and Vincent Piazza, delivering a variant on his edgy presence in BOARDWALK EMPIRE. I was delighted to see Christopher Walken cast in support as well. As musicals go, I'm not a massive fan of the genre, but JERSEY BOYS is good enough even for non-fans. Check it out.

I don't often attend live stage shows, but being a big fan of the 4 Seasons music, did catch the live production a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a bit disappointed the first time I saw the movie, it seemed that Eastwood tried to stay too faithful to the stage production, although I must admit I don't have a clue as to the process of adapting from stage to film. After 3 months I tried it again last night, catching it on HBO and enjoyed it much more. Maybe I wasn't comparing it to the stage show. In any case, it was enjoyable, a great ensemble cast and at the heart of it was the terrific music. The Seasons had an incredible run of hits from the early to late 60's and it turned out that their evolution was an engrossing story. My complaints-the story does drag in a few places, thought about .15 minutes or more could have easily been trimmed. The scene where they were riding in a convertible with the camera on the hood shooting at them in the car looked incredibly campy, obviously done in a studio. Also thought that the method of having each of the original 4 Seasons introduce a portion of the story may have worked well on a stage, but was unneeded for the film adaptation.One interesting thing-their biggest hit, 1975's "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)" was used in the overture and in the grand finale, bringing out the cast in the stage and film production. This song, which also coincided with the beginning of disco dominating the Top 40 charts, is done by a different group of 4 Seasons, with only Valli left from the original group and this may be one of the only songs that Frankie didn't sing the lead. with Gerry Polci doing the vocals and Valli singing the bridge. Their comeback with this hit isn't mentioned, but the song is used.

As far as I'm concerned, Clint Eastwood is a music lover and rendering this biopic of the Four Seasons makes one more in his resume.Adapted from a Broadway musical, Jersey Boys tells the story how Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons rose to success after being so patient. Yes, there were some pitfalls (especially Tommy's shady deals which almost cost the band's career) but at the end, it brought the group to introduce the "Jersey Sound" with Frankie Valli's unique voice.At the end, the result is a piece of pop music history worth to watch.Even if critics panned this movie, the people decide. And Clint went ahead and "made his day" again.